I have been visiting Florida since the 1960s and have lived here since '72, and the one constant in towns around Florida that I remember was the Lum's. I have probably eaten in 20 of them over the years. I remember when they began to disappear. You'd drive through some little town that you were somewhat familiar with, and you'd see the Lum's, closed, or maybe turned into a Chinese buffet or a pizza place. Whenever I would be meeting a friend in some town I had never been to before, he'd say "Let's meet at Lum's", because every little town had one. After awhile it became--"...meet me at the new McDonald's..."

The one in Ft Myers was right across from the mall, and it was an expansive Lum's with a patio. Its decor was the German Beer Hall Style, all heavy beams and leaded windows. They would have 10 cent beer nights, so a bunch of us would go pig out at Lum's and spend maybe $5 for a gallon of beer and two-three hots, smothered in sauerkraut. They were always good.

And there WAS a difference between their non-beer hots and the ones that steamed in beer, a big difference.

I told an old friend, a lifelong Floridian, about the Last Lum's after I first read the post here, and he refused to believe me. "That could NOT be the only one left", he said as he emerged from denial.

Once, Lum's was everywhere in Florida, as ubiquitous as Outback or White Castle. It's sort of sad that they're all gone.

Wow! Haven't heard that name in years. There was one in Columbus OH in the late 1960's. At that time it was the best hot dog I had ever eaten. Beer steamed, sauerkraut and spicy mustard. My mouth is watering!

When I was at Michigan State, I used to go for hot dogs steamed in beer (with kraut and mustard) and a wine cooler (el cheapo red wine and Sprite).

I moved East and about that time Phyllis George's husband, who had made KFC a national name, took over Lum's. He introduced the Ollie Burger and built a marketing campaign around making Ollie the next Colonel. The Ollie Burger had "secret" herbs and spices (just like the Colonel's friend chicken recipe). They did TV commercials with Uncle Miltie dressed up like Chiquita Banana/Carmen Miranda singing "Ai, ai, ai, ai, ai, I love the Ollie Burger. In addition to the signature Ollie Burger, the commercial featured a whole line-up of burgers. (The tag line was priceless: Lum's even named a burger after you, Mr. Berle. The Ham-burger.)

I guess Lum's over-spent and over-extended. The hamburgers sort of diluted the brand image. The restaurants started to disappear. Apparently Ollie in his contract retained his rights to the Ollie Burger and started Ollie's Trolley, a small, limited menu fast-food stand in downtown areas where they could get walk-up traffic (not unlike Ollie's original hamburger stand at the beach). There are only a few of those left, too.

I haven't spotted a Lum's since the 90's. I happened to drive by Elmira, NY coming back from meeting a client and saw a sign for one off the Interstate. A couple of years later I found one mentioned online in Newark, DE and drove down. Both times it wasn't the same. The places were dark and mostly empty. Still had the hot dogs and the Ollie Burger but it wasn't the same.

That must have been John Y Brown. IIRC, George went on to start her own chicken venture too. JYB also started Ollie's Trolley, that was his too. Wienerwald took them over and overextended themselves. They seemed to really push their "famous" 2 roast chickens for $5 over everything else. Those ads soured a lot of people back then with deceptive advertising. You got two, tiny cornish hens in a folded, paper bowl. Last one I remember was next to the university that I attended in the early 80's and it was always dead. Surprising for any restaurant near by the campus. It was like WW wasn't bothering putting any money into the operation. The interior was so frayed and rundown. The booths were in tatters. That had to be around '82. When I returned to do my grad a few years later it had already folded and became part of the Cammies (sp?) no frills seafood chain.

That must have been John Y Brown. IIRC, George went on to start her own chicken venture too. JYB also started Ollie's Trolley, that was his too. Wienerwald took them over and overextended themselves. They seemed to really push their "famous" 2 roast chickens for $5 over everything else. Those ads soured a lot of people back then with deceptive advertising. You got two, tiny cornish hens in a folded, paper bowl. Last one I remember was next to the university that I attended in the early 80's and it was always dead. Surprising for any restaurant near by the campus. It was like WW wasn't bothering putting any money into the operation. The interior was so frayed and rundown. The booths were in tatters. That had to be around '82. When I returned to do my grad a few years later it had already folded and became part of the Cammies (sp?) no frills seafood chain.

Someone just brought up a link to this thread. Just out of curiousity, are you talking about the Lum's/Wienerwald that was at about 107th Ave and the Tamiami Trail? I had the same experience right about that time. I wasn't paying much attention to the restaurant business, but the Wienerwald thing annoyed me.